I found my Log Book starting in 1974

[Paul B]

This is the first page of my log book. I also found a book that I started writing at that time. I was listing the fish that I kept and wrote a page or so for each fish. The pictures were drawings that I did at the time. It's a little out dated now. Remember this was before just about anyone carried salt water fish and there were no salt water medications or any information. We had to figure out everything through guesswork. I noticed most of my notes were about diseases.





I found it interesting that I had a Moorish Idol and a copperband butterfly in 1976

 

[Paul B]

In 1976 I was still living in my apartment and the tank was 40 gallons. I had that copperband, French Angel and a Moorish Idol in a 40 gallon

 

[Paul B]

I think it is interesting. I read it and laugh at the medications I tried.

I have not seen this book in decades.

I probably used medications I was taking as there were absolutely no salt water fish medications. I think we may have had copper but that's it. The log is full of trial and errors and plenty of dead fish.

Sergeant Majors, blue devils, and dominoes' were the only fish available then. I used copper in my tank almost continuously as all fish had parasites and all of them were on the verge of dying. I see I was using my diatom filter then as I do now and I was trying very hard to cultivate algae. Remember the "corals": were just dead pieces that I bought in a furniture store for decoration.


This was the only publication.

 

[Russell Bennett]

How did you get fish then? I remember in the 80s growing up and wandering over to the mysterious 9 tanks that were saltwater in my Jackson Mississippi store.

 

[Paul B]

Here in New York Aquarium Stock company was a large store near the World Trade Center which was under construction then. They got salt water in 1971 when I got them. Blue devils, sergeant majors and dominoes' were the only fish then.
This was my tank circa 1972

 

[Paul B]

This is from the day I moved from Queens New York to New Hyde Park, Long Island. A trip of about 9 miles. I put the water and fish in 2 five gallon buckets for the trip and dumped it all back in in my new home. I still had not gotten the new 100 gallon tank here. I think it took me a few months to afford that. In those days there was no live rock or coral to worry about, it was just water and gravel. The decorations were just dead coral skeletons that I removed and soaked in bleach whenever they turned green. That's how all salt tanks were run then. We didn't know or consider bacteria as a helpful thing much. But it seemed the move went well.
I see my tank was also plagued by HLLE possibly because I had so many fish in a 40 gallon tank and the food was most likely flakes or pellets. I don't remember but I am sure I will find it in my notes. I was also using tap water in those days.

 

[Paul B]

This picture from probably 1979 or 80 shows the green dead corals that were transported from the tank in my old home and the new, bleached white ones must have been the new ones I bought to take up the extra space because this tank was much larger.
I can see I was building my basement around the tank as it was under construction here

 

[Mark_C]

I'm truly enjoying this.
And you really should work on your hand writing, it atrocious, can hardly make out a word.

 

[Russell Bennett]

I can read it well - I bet he is a lefty lol. Cool to see your notes. That's what I strive for but really just have test results

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm truly enjoying this.
And you really should work on your hand writing, it atrocious, can hardly make out a word.

What? That's some pretty nice block printing, if I say so myself. I'd actually bet that Paul took mechanical drawing in High School, the way those letters are printed. Since I suffer from the same affliction, I'll take the bet one step further, and state that his script is so bad, he can't read his own writing, and that's why he prints!!! I'm, with you Paul.

 

[Paul B]

LOL. I actually did taka a mechanical engineering course but I always printed fairly well. In grammar school we had to do something in large print, about an inch high and we had to do it freehand. They called my Mother into school because they thought I cheated and used a ruler. . That printing above is rather bad and I am sure I did it fast. My later notes are much sloppier. I can write in script, but I prefer not to.
(I am sure Mark was kidding.)

 

[Mark_C]

Was kidding.
Mechanical design major way back when. Plastic strip templates with a scribe tool and mechanical ink pen.
I write script for myself but write block for others. Paul's writing reminds me of my own.
Of course I do this all in crayon.

 

[Paul B]

From my notes it looks like my tank had nothing but diseases but then I realized that I only wrote something in the log book when something happened, like a disease. I rarely wrote anything if nothing was happening as I have months in between logging anything. In the very beginning it was all diseases because the fish all came on the verge of croaking. The stores would throw out all their fish in the first few days if they didn't sell because they died anyway. Eventually we figured it out and kept copper pennies in the water to control parasites.